


The Evil Without (Joseph Oda)

by nasty_b0i



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Male Friendship, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22257271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nasty_b0i/pseuds/nasty_b0i
Summary: cheesy title i know lol but this is basically a self indulgent fanfiction about what goes on with Joseph when he's not on screen because u know pretty much nothing of what hes up to and i think it allows for a lot of creative freedom. i'm also adding a self insert cuz i am head over heels in love with him, but the focus for this story is not romantic. keep in mind im not a writer, i have a lot of professional writer friends tho so i like to think that i picked up one or two things! hope u have fun, character is male cuz im male and there's not enough content with joseph and another dude who isnt sebastian lmao
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is pretty much just a prologue to lead up to when Joseph takes the main perspective

The squad car drove down the street silently, the hum of the engine drowned out by the rain pattering around it. Three detectives rode silently in the passenger seats, on their way back to hq after a case: Sebastian Castellanos, Joseph Oda, his partner, and Juli Kidman, a rookie under their wing. The crackle of the car’s radio broke the quiet atmosphere, listing off information and requesting backup at Beacon Hospital. The officer driving the car, Connelly, picked up the receiver and listed his number and how long until they’d be there, only 3 minutes. With a sudden right turn and lights and siren switched on, they headed towards the action  
“Sorry detectives, I know you’re just coming off of a case but I’m afraid we’re gonna have to make a detour,” Connelly peered into the rear view mirror to address the two in the back as well. Joseph piped up, inquisitive as he was known to be.  
“Sounds serious, is it a riot?”  
“Call went out just before I picked you up, said it was multiple homicides. Half a dozen units already on scene,” Connelly replied curtly. More muffled info broadcasted through the radio as he kept talking. “Hey maybe it’s the ghost of that doctor who went schizo and chopped up all those patients.” Joseph informed him with a tone of annoyance that that’s not what happened, and the two went back and forth before Sebastian turned in his seat to look at his partner.  
“Joseph, you think there’s a connection?”  
“It’s a possibility,” he replied, relieved to discuss more sensible theories with his partner. “I believe the records were sealed.” He held up the black book that he frequently took notes in about cases to punctuate his point.  
“Anyone on scene respond,” the persistent radio ended their conversation, and Sebastian picked up the receiver before Connelly could take his hand off the steering wheel  
“Dispatch this is Detective Castellanos in 184, what’s the situation? Over,” the vehicle fell silent once again as they all listened for what was going on. The radio crackled and cut out mid sentence, and as Sebastion spoke into it again to ask something a high pitched ringing suddenly came through it. The sound caused Connelly to swerve as the detectives gripped their heads in pain, grunting until the sound passed. Joseph removed his glasses and placed a hand on his temple as Sebastian began speaking again. “Junior Detective Kidman, any thoughts?” Kidman maintained a neutral expression, as if she hadn’t been affected by the ringing. She spoke in a flat tone.  
“Nothing yet. I’m sure we’ll know everything once we get there.” The foreboding message caused Sebastian to eye her with slight suspicion, but he had no chance to think about it as the hospital came into view  
As they arrived at Beacon, its gates creaking eerily and the abandoned police cars didn’t make for a very welcome scene. The three detectives exited the car and walked towards the entrance, evaluating the threat level.  
“What do you make of it?” Joseph asked his partner from behind. Instead of answering him directly, Sebastian turned to Connelly and instructed him to try and get in contact with dispatch and to tell them what was going on. He and his fellow detectives then entered the courtyard, guards up and a feeling of suspense settling over all of them. As they walked through the driveway towards the front doors, Joseph noted that there were no weapons left behind in the empty squad cars. This meant nothing good, and the three readied themselves for whatever would be beyond the looming doors of the hospital.  
Sebastian faltered the moment he opened one of the doors, only opening it about an inch before his other hand came up to cup his nose and mouth and the grimace that had formed. His partner remained unphased, identifying the smell as blood.  
“Alright, stay sharp,” the two nodded to each other as Joseph drew his gun, pushing open the other door and entering the reception area of the hospital. Sebastian turned to Kidman as she approached, stopping her to talk. “We’re gonna check it out, don’t let anyone else through this door.”  
“I can be an extra set of eyes,” Kidman argued, lowering her gun in agitation and placing a hand on her hip indignantly.  
“We don’t know what’s happening here, you’re our backup.” With that Sebastian joined Joseph to investigate  
Bodies of patients and doctors alike were strewn about on the floor and on furniture, each one covered with a sickening amount of blood. The two’s disgust was not hidden, and the constant creaks and noises kept them on their toes. Joseph was a few paces ahead, and after another minute of scanning the large room he stepped through a door to the left by the desks, before alerting his partner that someone still alive was in there. Sebastian picked up the pace and found who Joseph was talking about: a doctor, stunned and dazed sitting propped against one of the walls in the small room. He darted down to the man’s side, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder.  
“Are you injured? What happened here?” The gruff detective had an even but commanding tone as he looked over the doctor for any urgent injuries while his partner watched the door for any threats. The doctor continued to stare ahead, shaking his head slightly and mumbling.  
“Can’t be real… Impossible… Ruvik, he…,” the doctor slurred as he succumbed to unconsciousness. Joseph knelt at his other side and kept the man’s body from falling forward by placing a hand on his shoulder, looking up at Sebastian.  
“I’ve got him. The security cameras might tell us something.” Sebastian stood at this queue, exchanging a look with his partner before walking to the other side of the room where one security monitor still showed a grainy image of one of the hospital hallways. Multiple shots were heard from somewhere in the hospital and Sebastian focused his attention on the screen as three officers ran into frame, stopping to shoot frantically at something. Suddenly, a hooded figure appeared on screen, moving too fast to be human, and took the officers out with a single blow each.  
“What the hell?” Sebastian stared harder at the scene, trying to figure out how his comrades were taken down and who or what this thing that killed them was. Just as he did this the figure looked directly into the camera, seeming to look past it and into Sebastian’s mind, before disappearing without a trace from the feed. He was dumbfounded, and mumbled questions before sensing a presence behind him. He turned and saw the figure suddenly behind him, his tattered hooded robe hiding a man with half of his face mangled and burned and pale, haunting eyes. The figure drew his arm back and there was a long, menacing needle in his hand, which was headed straight for his eye. He gasped, and everything went dark.


	2. The Journey Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is the real start of the story, eee im excited! lol  
> i want to not just follow the environments that were in the game, so i plan to make up my own path and maybe even a couple original boss characters to keep things spicy ;)

Joseph’s gaze shot from where he had been watching the open doorway to where he heard Sebastian yell out, but by the time he looked to the other side of the room all that was left was a fading red mist and the echo of his partner’s scream. He shot up, head whipping around to try and make sense of what had just happened. His confusion was interrupted by the sound of the doctor groaning, indicating that he had woken back up from his fainting spell before Sebastian disappeared. He crouched near the doctor, bending his head to meet his eyes and make sure he was coherent.  
“Doctor? Doctor, are you alright? I am detective Joseph Oda with the KPD, can you tell me the last thing you remember before we found you?” The doctor in question raised his head as the detective in front of him spoke, eyes clearing as he slowly became more aware of his surroundings. He looked into Joseph’s eyes, placing a hand on his head and using the other to grip the man’s arm and steady himself as he stood.   
“Yes, of course. My name is Marcelo Jimmenez, I’m a doctor at this hospital. The last thing I remember… Is…” Dr. Jimmenez paused, his eyes squinting as if trying to project his memories onto the wall in front of him. “Is… Leslie! My patient, I must find him!” Jimmenez suddenly jerked forward, nearly falling as Joseph scrambled to steady the both of them. The two walked back into the reception area, Joseph supporting Jimmenez with his left arm and holding his gun cautiously with his right. They took a sharp right turn from the door they had just emerged from and entered another, which lead to a hallway illuminated by the large windows on one side.  
“Doctor Jimmenez, how did this all happen? Who is Ruvik?” Joseph asked as the two shuffled along. The doctor ignored him, glancing nervously at the multiple blood stains on the floor and walls and mumbling to himself about various things, notably “the machine,” “out of control,” “trapped,” and “Leslie.” Deciding he wasn’t going to get an answer any time soon Joseph once again looked ahead, just as a door slammed open and a person in what appeared to be in patient clothes stumbled out. The two stopped abruptly, watching as the patient looked the opposite way and groaned before turning towards them, giving them a full view of what was wrong with him.  
His skin was discolored, almost grey, and thick veins pulsed up and down its cheeks and forehead. Bubbling festers of infection sprouted up, and as his bloodshot eyes focused on the two he released a gutteral scream and charged.   
“Watch out!” Joseph immediately ushered Dr. Jimmenez behind him and aimed his weapon, firing at the patient’s knee and watching it fall with a gurgle. It began crawling towards them with reignited ferocity, and while Joseph watched with horror and concern Jimmenez ripped the gun from his hand and ran out from behind him towards the body. “Doctor, wait!” Jimmenez ignored him and approached the body, firing two shots directly into the head, the patient immediately falling still  
"Not human anymore… what has ruvik done…" the doctor mumbled to himself as Joseph ran up to him and snatched the gun out of his hand, placing a few steps of distance between the two before looking at the corpse of the infected patient.  
"What happened to him, what's been going on in this hospital?!” Joseph shouted in frustration, grabbing the doctor’s arm as he rushed forward towards one of the numbered doors. He turned around to look at the detective with anger written on his face, wrenching his arm free.  
“I’ll explain everything later, but for now it is imperative that I find my patient! He is the key to ending all of this madness!” Jimmenez spoke in an urgent tone, and Joseph bit his tongue and followed him to a door where a slight whimpering could be heard. The doctor dug into his pocket, pulling out a packed key ring and fumbling through it to find the one to fit the required lock. While he looked Joseph heard more of the inhuman groaning coming from the next door over, and peered in to see another infected patient strapped to the bed. It thrashed wildly, pulling at the padded restraints on its wrists and ankles, harder so when it caught Joseph’s eye from the other side of the door.  
Finally, Jimmenez found the right key and quickly unlocked the heavy door, rushing in and kneeling near a figure huddled in the corner. Joseph stayed at the doorway, gun at the ready, and watched as the doctor spoke quietly to the boy and coaxed him to stand. He was pale in every aspect, from the white hospital outfit he wore to his almost snow white hair and sickly complexion. Shortly after the two, doctor and patient, walked to the doorway again, and Jimmenez paused to gesture to joseph.  
“Leslie, do you see that badge? This is a police officer, they’re here to help us. If you ever get lost or something happens to me, find someone with this, okay?” Jimmenez said softly, pointing to the metal badge on Joseph’s right shoulder. Leslie repeated some of the words back slowly, and Jimmenez took that as confirmation. Joseph recalled that Sebastian never wore his, and the thought of his partner snapped him back to the fact that he had no idea where he was.  
“Dr. Jimmenez, I have to find my partner. Detective Juli Kidman is waiting at the entrance, can you make it to her on your own?” Joseph asked as he watched Leslie fidget nervously and hum to himself. Jimmenez nodded, and began ushering his patient back down the hall they’d come from. Joseph watched them until they disappeared through the door, before drawing his gun close and heading further into the hospital.  
The halls of Beacon only grew more decrepit as the detective continued on, blood covering more of the floors and the windows left behind to make for an even heavier atmosphere. A light sheet of sweat developed on his forehead, anticipation getting the better of him as he strained to make out shapes in the dark. His grip never wavered, however, never shook; his smooth leather gloves kept his hold firm and his hand steady.  
He paused at one of the many doors, noticing it ajar, and ventured inside to see if there was anything worth seeing. He was glad to trust his instincts, and picked up the small flashlight that was sitting on one of the desks against the wall. Upon turning it on it had a decent glow, sure it needed to be tapped a few times but it seemed reliable enough, at least for as long as it would take him to find Sebastian. He walked back out of the room, shining the beam into the shadowy hallway, and continued forward.  
Joseph neared a turn into another hallway and heard multiple footsteps. He slowed, holding up his new flashlight and steadying his aim as it approached. Suddenly a figure turned the corner and crashed into him, nearly knocking him over and taking him back a few steps. The figure was rather small, only reaching to about his chest, and it released a shout that was different from the infected patients he had seen before. Shoving off from Joseph, it ducked to the left but slipped and crashed into the wall, grunting and hissing through its teeth as the light was shined onto it  
Joseph did a double take. Cowering on the ground in front of the detective with his arms covering his face was a boy. He didn’t look much older than seventeen or eighteen, and he was wearing the Beacon patient attire, but he didn’t look infected. He lowered his trembling arms to try and look at Joseph, eyes dilated with fear even when looking directly at the flashlight. His rapid breathing slowed and the two looked at each other for no more than a second before the boy winced and held his ankle, which Joseph could now see was slightly bruised. The growing sounds of angry groans and roars called their attention the other way, as 3 infected patients rounded the corner the boy had just bolted from.  
Leveling his emotions, Joseph aimed his gun and began firing at the figures. Each fell after a shot or two to the head, and when at last the winding halls grew silent again he turned to the boy still propped against the wall, chest heaving as he stared at the bodies on the floor. Joseph put his gun in its holster and approached the boy slowly, kneeling in front of him and removing the hand on the boy’s ankle to look at the damage. After deciding it was okay enough to walk on, he looked into the teen’s bloodshot eyes.  
“My name is Joseph Oda, I’m a detective with the Krimson City Police Department. I’m going to get you out of here, can you stand?” They were always instructed to speak softly to trauma victims. The boy nodded, gripping Joseph’s hand and arm to hoist himself up. He was less shaky than before, and together they walked to find an exit. Whenever they got to a turn and Joseph wasn’t sure which way to go, the boy would squeeze his arm to get his attention and gesture in one direction. At a particularly long hallway, the detective broke the silence that surrounded them.  
“So, what’s your name? You seem to know this place pretty well,” the boy met his eyes but only briefly, choosing instead to look at the ground in front of him. He spoke quietly, barely above a whisper and if there had been any sound other than the pattering of their footsteps Joseph would have had to ask him to repeat himself.  
“It’s Malachy… You get to know these halls pretty well when you try to get out as much as I do.” His eyebrows furrowed and he was lost in thought for the rest of the hallway's length before they reached the turn and found themselves down another hall, this one with only one door at the end. Malachy looked up, seemingly shocked that they ended up there and turned around, yelping and jumping away from Joseph. The detective turned as well and was shocked to see that where there had once been a turn and more halls and doors was now a solid wall, appearing out of thin air. The ringing from before filled both their heads again and the ground shook, causing them to stumble while their eyes clenched shut from the pain. Joseph looked up for a moment and saw a figure in front of the door at the end of the hall, the environment seeming to pulse from around him.   
His features were hidden ominously by the ripped robe he wore, and he rose one of his hands in the direction of the two. The pounding in their heads worsened and Malachy began to scream, the sound distorting and piercing Joseph's ears until his vision started to blur. He tried to raise aim his gun at the figure, but before he could get a clear shot his target's fist clenched.   
The floor beneath them started to crack, and after a few tense seconds they fell into a pit that seemed much too big and deep for the hospital to accommodate. Joseph looked to where Malachy was falling and saw that he was limp in the air, his own consciousness fading as well. He reached out and grabbed the boy’s wrist, grunting as he pulled him near and shifted so his back was facing wherever the bottom of the chasm may be. The last thing he remembered was taking his glasses off and hooking them onto the collar of his vest, determined to keep them safe too, before his vision went black as the seemingly endless pit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First boss fight!! i hope u guys like this one, i know i posted the first 2 chapters within a day of each other but i got a ton of work these last couple of days so this one is "late" but it's also a bit longer to make up for it. this 3 day weekend is gonna be a blessing tho, and hopefully ill have enough time to rewatch some of the gameplay to find an organic point to incorporate sebastian back into the story, i want them to meet up and separate at all the canonical times yknow? anyways, enjoy!

Joseph slowly regained consciousness and felt a cool hand slide between his head and the stone floor to cup the back of his neck. He wasn’t coherent enough to react, and let himself be lifted into a sitting position with another hand tugging him by the arm. He slumped forward slightly but kept himself upright, feeling for his glasses to remove them and rub his temples. The lack of their familiar feeling is what snapped him awake, and his head pulled up to look into the eyes of the boy from the hospital he had saved. As close as they were the detective could still see his face clearly, but as the teen crawled back to give him space his features became less clear. He decided to look around the room, scanning the floor for his missing glasses.  
“They fell off some time during the fall… I have them,” Malachy stated and produced the object in question from a pocket. He leaned in and handed them to the detective, his sleeve pulling up and revealing thick strips of bandages to the man. Once Joseph had taken the glasses Malachy pulled his hand back swiftly, pulling the sleeve back so it covered more than half of his hand and bringing it up to rub his neck self-consciously, busying his gaze with the many cracks on the filthy walls and floors.  
“Thank you… Do you have any idea where we are?” The detective put his glasses back on and looked around, now fully aware of his surroundings. He tried his own pocket and felt the flashlight he had picked up earlier was still there, pulling it out and flicking it on.  
“Logically speaking we should be in the basement, but things haven’t really been making a lot of sense lately..,” Malachy stood and placed a hand on the wall nearest to him, drawing it back and rubbing his fingers together in curiosity before frowning and wiping the dust on his shirt. Joseph stood up as well, shining the flashlight onto the wall behind him and discovering a door. He walked up to it and tried the handle, only to find it locked. He rammed into it a couple of times with his shoulder before giving up; the metal might have been rusty but it was solid, and he was more likely to get tetanus before he got it open.  
“So much for a way out,” he huffed, brows furrowing. He heard his companion hum in contemplation, and turned to see him looking around the room again. Suddenly he pointed at a spot on the wall, and as Joseph shined his light there he saw a vent duct with the cover hanging by only one screw.  
“If I can get through there, I might be able to find a way to unlock the door from the other side. I’ll need a boost though.” The detective followed without another word, kneeling underneath the went and weaving his fingers together. He held his flashlight between his teeth to keep the beam going as Malachy placed one of his hospital-issued flats onto the man’s hands, pushing off the ground with his other foot. He grabbed onto the edge of the vent and pulled himself up with Joseph’s help,before looking back and gingerly taking the flashlight from the detective’s mouth.   
“It’s pretty dark out here, mind if I borrow this?”  
“Yeah, sure.” He boosted Malachy up the rest of the way, and a second or two after disappearing behind the wall he heard the boy’s shoes slap onto the floor on the other side. He saw the light flash back and forth on the ceiling.  
“I’ll be back soon, look out for the light under the door!” Joseph wished him luck and soon he was left in silence. He took this time to think about the situation he was in and what his next step should be. He was missing his flashlight as he tried to scribble notes in the dark, deciding to stop before he gave himself a headache. He re-pocketed his notebook and rolled his shoulder a couple of times, trying to massage away some soreness that appeared when he woke up. Must have landed on that side.  
After a few minutes of waiting he saw a glow on the floor, and turned to see the light coming through the bottom of the door. As it grew brighter Joseph suddenly heard a shrill beeping, followed by his companion gasping and the sound of him scrambling back. The detective brought his ear close to the door, and the person on the other side began to speak.  
“There’s… a bomb on the door.” He spoke in a matter-of-fact tone and could be heard anxiously tapping his foot. Joseph thought to himself about what he could do to help  
“What does it look like? Maybe I can tell you how to disarm it.”   
“I don’t think that’s gonna work, Detective… Wait, what if I made it blow up?”  
“What??” Joseph took his head away from the door, taking a cautionary step back.  
“There’s an old bottle on the ground here, if I make it detonate it’ll definitely unlock the door!”  
“We don’t know how powerful it is, one of us could get hurt!”   
“Just trust me, okay? Go stand against the back wall, I’m gonna count down.” Without much of a choice, Joseph darted to the furthest corner from the door, pressing his palms against the wall and steadying his breathing. Malachy began counting down from three slowly, and squeezed his eyes shut at the last second. A loud boom filled his ears and a small wave of heat encased him within the small room. He opened his eyes just in time to see the now bent and singed door creak open on one hinge. Through the smoke he could barely see the outline of his companion, who stood near the door waving smoke away and trying to peer into the doorway  
“You alive in there?” Joseph couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurd statement, and walked through the smoke to wordlessly give his answer. The boy smiled, face smudged with smoke and soot, and waved his flashlight back and forth again. Holding a hand out, the detective took it back, and soon they were on their way again with him in the lead.  
Their new environment was worse than the hospital. The claustrophobic corridors made Malachy tense, visible in how closely he followed behind the taller man. They didn’t get very far before finding another infected walking towards them, probably drawn by the sound of the blast. Joseph took it down quickly, growing used to what had to be done and hesitating less and less with each new foe. Malachy helped where he could, every now and then he would scurry off and return in step with Joseph having magically found some bullets that were for his gun model or a strange syringe which he said he recognized from the hospital as a mix of antibiotics and adrenaline; basically general healing.  
Joseph was skeptical of the syringe and starkly refused to use it, stating that he’d just make sure to be careful. Malachy cocked an eyebrow but didn’t stop him, picking up some old rope before threading it through one of the holes in the handle and tying it around his waist. They continued with this pattern, Joseph taking down any zombies that they came across and Malachy finding bullets or bottles to use as a distraction to allow the detective to sneak up and break the infected’s neck. After a while they came across a large room that was flooded in light from multiple old looking lanterns. On the other side was a crank machine pulling a heavy chain and a freight elevator, the vintage cage door showing a plain wall on the other side and indicating that it was on a different floor.  
The two scavenged for a bit, finding a surplus of bullets near the multiple bodies strewn about the room. They seemed to have been arranged in a particular order, one side piled with in-tact bodies and the other with dismembered chunks, cut roughly and inconsistently. All of the whole corpses wore Beacon uniforms, doctor and patient alike, which caused Malachy to hug his arms slightly in discomfort. He looped another syringe onto his rope belt, when suddenly the sound of the elevator coming down drew their attention to the light coming from the top of the opening. It was growing quickly.  
“Hide!” Joseph hissed, darting behind a box randomly placed on the ground. Malachy was near the elevator and couldn’t reach a crate to hide behind in enough time, but there was a rickety table just a few feet in front of it that had a dirty tablecloth just long enough to cover him, and he crawled underneath it just before the feet of whoever was riding the elevator became visible.  
The man in the elevator was huge, unnaturally so. Joseph peered around the side of his cover, taking in the sight of the grotesque being stepping into the large room. His face was deformed and filled with sores, his teeth exposed and his breathing audible and ragged. He carried a body over his right shoulder, another patient, and in his left hand was a large, bloody, wooden bludgeon wrapped in barbed wire. He wore a stained male nurse uniform, with a dingy embroidered name tag that could still barely read “Warden Jack.” Around his neck was a string with a key on it. He slammed the body onto the table, causing Malachy to jump and clamp his hands around his mouth from where he was tucked underneath it, and began hacking at its limbs with a cleaver that was nearby.  
Joseph peered further around to make eye contact with Malachy from the other side of the table, but knocked over a bottle in the process, alerting the warden to his presence. With a roar of effort he smacked his bludgeon against the crank, releasing the chain it was holding and causing a heavy metal barrier to slam over where they’d come from, effectively stopping them from making any sort of escape. He then went a few steps the other way, picking up another thick chain and padlock and securing the entrance to the elevator, using the key from around his neck to lock it.  
After all this was done, the Warden began pacing around the room, smashing the large crates the detective was using for cover as he went. He had to think fast; he picked up the bottle he had knocked over earlier and threw it at the opposite wall when the Warden got too close, leading him that way instead. This allowed Joseph to move further down the cluster of boxes, buying him some time, and he shot at the mutated man’s back while he was distracted. After another round of shooting at him when he wasn’t looking and hiding behind the remaining crates (he had discovered that some of them held extra ammo, by some miracle), he grabbed another bottle and threw it in a random direction.  
This time, however, the bottle landed directly on Malachy, causing him to shout in surprise and pain as some of the glass cut his legs. The Warden whipped his misshapen head towards the noise, finally spotting the boy and charging at him with speed he hadn’t used before. He grabbed him by the ankle just before he could scramble away, pulling him out from under the table before picking him up by the throat. Kicking and gasping in the monster’s suffocating hold, he clawed desperately at the huge hand. The warden brought him closer to inspect his clothes, and upon figuring out the boy was also a patient he rose his bludgeon high above his head, ready to strike.   
Joseph could see the kicking of his companion’s legs grow more frantic, and he knew it was time to finish this. He stood fully, bringing up his gun and tilting his head as their enemy raised his weapon to kill the teen in his grasp, and emptied the entire clip into the back of the Warden’s head. His gun smoking and the only remaining noise being Malachy’s choked gasps and grunts, everything was still for a tense few seconds. Then, the mutant’s bludgeon wielding arm fell slowly, and with it his knees gave, pounding hard onto the floor and cracking it. As his huge torso followed the floor once again gave out, almost taking his captive with him into the sea of metal rods he had been impaled upon, if not for the fast reflexes of the detective.   
He held on to Malachy’s wrist, chest pressed to the unstable concrete as his weakened companion hung limply over the ledge. Huffing with effort, he was able to pull the boy up, wrapping a hand over his chest to drag him further away and eventually onto his own as he collapsed against the nearby wall and sat there. Both of their breath heaving, Malachy rose the hand that Joseph hadn’t used to pull him up, opening it to reveal the key in his palm. He broke out into a tired, breathy chuckle, and the other just sighed, relaxing a bit further into the stiff wall.  
Eventually they got up, the smaller rolling forward onto his feet before offering a hand hand heaving the taller man up. Unlocking the elevator and watching the thick chains slip onto the floor, the two walked in and Joseph pressed the up button. Malachy sat down against the back, hugging is knees to his chest, and breathed deeply for a while, occasionally rubbing his neck. Joseph glanced at him before looking back forward, wondering what his other partners could be doing and if they were okay.  
He’d find out a lot sooner than he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> first bit is a little dialogue heavy, but explains background and stuff. then we meet back up with sebastian! :) We also see the first look of haunted joseph from his own perspective, I hope how i wrote it was convincing! and then a little tender moment at the end, cuz who doesn't love those lol. Hope u enjoy, pls comment if there's anything you think i should improve on!  
> also sorry for the weird format for the first 3 chapters, just got it figured out so it should be easier to read now!

The elevator shook and grumbled as it slowly brought Joseph and Malachy up, the light above them flickering faintly, its florescent buzzing the only sound between the two. All of a sudden the light flickered more harshly than before, and the elevator lurched before coming to a stop. Joseph stepped up to the button panel, trying to pry it open to see if there was anything he could do. A minute and some sore fingers later he gave up, huffing and punching the elevator door before resting his hand a forehead against it in tense silence.

“So… Why are you here?” The sudden question caused the detective to glance down at the boy, who was resting his chin on his crossed arms. He took a breath and looked back ahead, thinking of his colleagues.

“I came here with my team, we had just come off of a case and were heading back to the office before we had to take a detour here. I was looking after a doctor before my partner went missing, and I went to look for him. Then I found you, and now I’m going to take you to safety, find my partners, and get out of here as soon as possible.” Joseph turned half way, looking fully at his companion. “How about you? How long were you staying at the hospital before all of this started happening?” The question was innocent enough, but the detective noticed Malachy shiver, his eyebrows knitting together.

“I was only supposed to be there for a week, but I kept acting out and they wrote me off as ‘a potential danger to others and myself.’ I was trying to get the hell out of there because of what they were doing.” Joseph’s face grew serious, and he whipped out his trusty notebook, pen in hand.

“What were they doing?” Malachy made eye contact with the detective, shifting so he sat cross legged on the elevator floor.

“When I first got there, for some reason they made every patient who was staying have a brain scan. Most of the people ahead of me were just in and out, through the door and then right back to the front desk. But a couple went to a different door, and they didn’t come back out. When it was my turn, the doctors wouldn’t say anything up front to me or answer my questions, they kept whispering to each other. I went through the other door.” Joseph was writing everything down as fast as he could, and Malachy paused in his story to let him finish.

“What happened in there?”

“I don’t know if you paid close enough attention, but the emblems on the patient uniforms we saw had a red background with white light coming from the lighthouse.” The detective didn’t remember looking close enough, but let him continue. “It took me a bit to notice, but the colors on the uniform I was given are inverted.” He tapped where it was for emphasis, the background white and the beams coming from the lighthouse a deep red. “I don’t know what exactly it meant, but whoever had it was treated differently. Put in our own ward and taken somewhere for tests, I would always hide whenever they’d try to bring me so I don’t know what they were doing but it spelled trouble. Patients like me, mostly normal, after a few times with that test they’d come back and they were different, like something was missing.”

After that he stopped talking, and Joseph looked down to see that he was staring ahead blankly, eyes glazed and lips slightly parted. Another pulse shook their surroundings before the elevator began to rise again. The detective’s vision started to distort, like he was looking at everything through a TV with bad reception He took off his glasses and squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing them before squinting in confusion and trying to wave it away until he realized it was coming from somewhere. He looked back at his companion and saw that the static was the most concentrated around him. He reached out a hand to break him of the trance but just as he did the elevator reached the top floor and another pulse, much stronger than the one before, forced Joseph to his knees with a cry of pain.

The pulse caused the static to grow in intensity, until Joseph could barely see or hear anything. Trying to find something to lean on so he could stand back up, he turned his head and saw the hooded figure from before, clear as day. He cut through the static as if he existed on a completely different plane than it, and the detective watched as he reached out a mangled hand towards Malachy. Despite the debilitating ringing in his head he pulled out his gun faster than he could think, took aim, and fired, bathing everything in a blinding white light.

[Time Skip Time Skip Time for a Time Skip]

Joseph awoke feeling water rush past him as he slid onto the ground, something painful dislodging from his neck. He heard the familiar voice of his partner as he was helped into a sitting position, his mind coming back into some semblance of focus

“Thank God you’re okay.” Sebastian rubbed his partner’s back as he coughed, looking him over for any wounds.

“I don’t know what I am, but it’s definitely not okay.” The two heard a deep groan coming from the other side of the strange tub Joseph was found in, and they looked just to see a pair of white shoes disappear behind it. Then Malachy rose up, and Sebastian drew his gun before he could remove the hand that was covering his face. The older detective pulled the trigger just as his partner’s gloved hand shot up to grab his arm, raising the gun so it missed the person it was intended for. Said person flinched and shouted, finally looking at the two as he crouched behind the tub, clutching the rim.

“Sebastian stop, this is a patient I found at the hospital! He’s safe, he’s just a victim in all of this,” At this Sebastian lowered his gun, narrowing his eyes at the boy before sighing and helping his partner onto his feet. Malachy darted over to where Joseph stood, hiding behind him half way and staring at the older detective. The younger one didn’t seem to mind, instead finally looking around at the room they were in.

“You… brought me here?” He broke out into a harsh coughing fit, doubling over before clutching his head and shouting in pain. He dropped to one knee and Sebastian crouched to support him and Malachy took a step back, not knowing what to do. “Jesus, what happened? My head feels like… Like… Do you hear that?” The younger detective stared up at nothing, his hand sliding off his face while Sebastian looked at him worriedly.

“We need to get out of here, can you move?” Sebastian asked as he helped his partner up. Joseph started to agree and took a step forward, before almost falling down again. This time Malachy did step forward, and quickly ducked under the detective’s arm to support him. He locked eyes with Sebastian and nodded, letting him know that they could continue. Sebastian looked from him to his partner before moving forward, pushing open a pair of rusted metal doors. After about another minute of walking Joseph seemed mostly fine, slipping his arm from Malachy’s shoulder and thanking him.

They walked through an open area leading two ways, one being a patient ward to the left and the other what looked like a nurse break room to the right. There were bullets and a corpse in the lockers on the right side, and when they emerged Malachy almost slipped in the thick, dark liquid that was on the floor, complaining that the smell of oil was giving him a headache. The sound of glass cracking underneath their shoes alerted more infected patients in the ward to their presence, and suddenly Malachy’s complaining gave Joseph an idea.

“Sebastian, Malachy, do either of you have a match?” The former handed him one from the breast pocket of his button up shirt, “Get on the other side of that oil, I have a plan.”

“Don’t do anything reckless,” Sebastian stated gruffly, tugging the boy his partner had found by the wrist while he wished the detective good luck. Joseph then lured them over, stepping past the oil to join the others, before lighting the puddle on fire just as the zombies started to walk through it. The moment they touched it they burst into flames, and it took out the majority of them before the oil was burnt up. Then Joseph and Sebastian pulled out their guns, making quick work of the stragglers. 

Once that was done they made their way safely through the ward, Malachy slipping away only to return with a third syringe and more bullets, which were distributed accordingly to the detectives' guns. After a few minutes of walking they approached a door that had an excessive amount of bombs attached to it. They went up to get a closer look, the many lights on it glowing an ominous red.

“This looks pretty sophisticated. Why would they put a bomb like this?” Joseph looked at it closely, inspecting the different keypads and wires connecting everything.

“Do you think we can get past it,” Sebastian asked, all-business as usual. Joseph looked back and saw Malachy toss up a bottle and catch it with one hand, giving him a knowing look. He sighed and raised a hand up to tell him to stop before taking out his notebook and flipping through the pages.

“Stand back, let me see if I can disarm it.” The others did as they were asked, walking to the other side of the room and watching the back of their mutual partner as it was illuminated by the red lights of the bomb. After a few seconds the lights shut off, and the locks placed along the sides popped like firecrackers, letting the door creak open. Joseph waited for his partners to pass before entering as well, gun raised cautiously just like his superior. Malachy walked out of the middle of their group to the side to look at something, when suddenly the same high pitched sound assaulted all of their ears. 

Joseph could barely hear his partner ask what was with the noise over the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears. His vision was fading to red and he saw his skin turn sickly grey and his veins a deep red, like one of the zombies they had been shooting. The ringing in his head had mostly cleared by now, and he felt better than ever. He heard something crash to his left and saw the boy he had saved from the hospital staring at him in terror, but something was different. Now when he looked at him he felt a burning anger. 

_ ‘That annoying little prick, why do I have to go around saving him? I should just kill him now before he slows me down again,’ _ he thought to himself, but before he could act he heard the voice of his long time partner and friend in front of him. A different kind of anger enveloped him, a blind fury that had him racing forward and grabbing at the man’s throat with murderous intent. He choked him as hard as his arms would allow, grunting and growling like an animal all the while.

_ ‘THIS bastard! After everything I’ve done for him, after everything we’ve been through, he still see’s me as his sidekick! That grouchy old fuck, who told him he was in charge?! I’LL SHOW HIM WHO’S IN CHARGE!’  _ He felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and start pulling him away from Sebastian, while the man himself also pushed. After another second he was shoved away and stood where he was, breathing heavily. The red faded from his vision and he took his glasses off, quickly regaining his senses and staring at the ground in growing horror. He raised his head as a stream of blood leaked from his nose, eyebrows knitted together while he wiped it away with his knuckle. 

He met the eyes of his partners, Malachy’s chest heaving and eyes filled with uncertainty and Sebastian, his friend, rubbing his throat and glaring at him, analyzing him. The latter walked forward, guarded but concerned.

“Joseph… After Connelly I thought…” The detective cut him off.

“I… I don’t know what came over me…” He paused to cough and put his glasses back on, just as Malachy stepped forward as well with worry etched into his features. “I haven’t been feeling well but…” He trailed off, disgusted with himself and overwhelmed with guilt upon seeing the red shape developing on his partner’s neck, the perfect size for his hands.

“Look, let’s just get out of here. There’s something wrong with this place.”

He agreed hesitantly, waiting for the two to go ahead before him. Malachy didn’t however, and waited instead for him to go before bringing up the rear. He heart fell even deeper at the display of distrust, and slouched both in pain and shame. He was finding it harder and harder to walk, his fatigue getting the better of him, before he felt a sharp pain in the side of his thigh. Shouting in pain and surprise he looked down, seeing one of the syringes Malachy had been picking up stuck into his leg, and the contents quickly going into him. 

By the time he jumped back he already felt he had more energy, and noticed that he wasn’t as achey. He placed a hand on his leg, still tender from the puncture, before looking up at his companion, who was disposing of the needle in a discarded trash bin. Sebastian paused when he heard the commotion, looking back with his gun drawn and telling the two of them to pick up the pace. Malachy gave the younger detective a half smile and a thumbs up, walking ahead of him and following the light of Sebastian’s lantern.

For a while he just stared, watching the retreating backs of his partners walking normally as if he hadn’t just attacked them. The guilt gnawed at his brain, but he continued forward, following them up a ladder and into a room with a set of double doors at one end. Sebastian entered a room with a strange symbol painted on the door, saying that he’d be out soon enough and to wait for him here. Malachy went over to a medical cabinet and found some bullets, picking them up before checking out the other contents. 

Not finding anything worth taking, he instead walked over to where Joseph was waiting by the side of the door and sat next to him. He didn’t say anything, but he placed a hand on the other’s shoe gently, and the detective leaned on the wall, releasing a heavy sigh. Strange music filled the room, and they waited there, for whatever would happen next.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry again for taking a little while, i was bombarded with school work and art i owed to a friend, but I finally got some time to write this out! this is the longest chapter so far lol, and I've been really excited since the start to write this independent scene! lotta angst hehe, hope u enjoy!

Sebastian spent a good while in that little room with the music, but just as the two were starting to grow curious he emerged and asked if they were ready to move on. Unable to think of anything else they’d need to do they said yes, and they pushed forward with determination. The set of doors they went through into the next part of their adventure opened onto a balcony overlooking a large room, part of it collapsed and making for a pile of rubble on the far side. In the middle of the room was Joseph and Sebastian’s partner, Juli Kidman, trapped in a glass box which was quickly filling with water. 

The two detectives leaned forward on the balcony’s railing in shock as the woman noticed them. Malachy scanned the area and noticed supplies littered throughout the ground, as well as the shifting bodies of zombies hidden in the shadows around the room.

“Kidman!” Sebastian was the first to react, beginning to walk briskly around the side of the balcony to find a way down to her.

“Get me out of this thing!” She slammed her hands on the thick glass, the water pouring in already up to her waist.

“Wait a minute; it’s another trap. Look.” Joseph noticed the infected enemies as well, and just as he alerted his partner to their presence they began to walk out, rusty knives in their hands and teeth bared. Malachy walked a bit the other way Sebastian had, trying to scope out the best route to take, and leaving Joseph in the middle of the balcony.

“It’s much more elaborately- GAH,” he was interrupted by a zombie charging into him from behind, causing the two to topple over the balcony and onto the hard floor below. Malachy cried out his name as he landed, but he was back up in a matter of seconds, pulling his gun out while he regained his bearings. 

“Joseph, are you alright?!” His partner called down gruffly, back on the path of heading down the makeshift ramp of rubble that was created. Malachy was hot on his trail, stopping briefly to tug a pair of old bolt cutters that somehow found its way into the rubble.

“Yea, I’m fine. Think you’d better get down here,” the young detective replied, already opening fire onto the hostiles running at him. Sebastian told him to hold on as he jumped off of the last of the rubble, pulling his gun out and nailing a headshot on the nearest zombie. Malachy followed soon after, darting between the zombies before being grabbed by one. He struggled against the hold, but just as Joseph noticed and brought up his gun to shoot the enemy the boy slammed his tool into its head with all of his strength. The zombie fell to the ground and he slammed the bolt cutters into its head again, caving its skull in. Joseph stared for a second in surprise, but soon enough the boy was running again.

When he got to the box he immediately began cutting the thick strands of barbed wire encasing it, stopping a few times to swing his bolt cutters and ward off an approaching zombie before Sebastian noticed what he was doing.

“Joseph! Cover the kid!” His partner’s head darted towards the person and he immediately understood, reloading his weapon and heading over to draw the enemies away. After about five minutes of working the cutters around the sturdy wire and the detectives distracting and killing the enemies, the boy got through the last one and let the heavy tool he was using fall to the ground along with it. The water had definitely risen, and now Kidman was bobbing in it as it was higher than her, but they exchanged a hopeful look, both panting with effort.

What Malachy didn’t hear in his fatigue was the hissing of a stick of dynamite too close for comfort. One of the enemies had thrown it before being killed by Joseph, and he noticed its close proximity to his companion a second too late.

“Malachy, watch out!” said person looked up at him in confusion, before the deafening blast sent him flying a short distance away. He landed in a heap, his right side a little scorch and covered in cuts, grunting upon impact but making no noise after that. That stick of dynamite had been the last attack of the enemies, and Joseph ran over to where the boy lay. He carefully lifted his companion’s head like he had done for him before, eyes darting around his body to see if there was any serious damage. The worst thing was a cut on his forehead, which trickled blood down the side of his face, but it wasn’t serious.

The call of his rookie partner brought his attention to her instead, and after propping the boy up on a fallen pillar he jogged over to where she was trapped. Free of the barbed wire, the detective could now see a strange looking device on it, almost like a pair of combination locks. He called Sebastian over, who was looking around for extra ammo and syringes after the fight. He jogged over, slowed by fatigue, and joined his partner in looking at the complicated lock. 

“I can’t get the thing open. I think there’s another control panel around here. We’re running out of time…” He was speaking quickly, growing more frantic by the second as he saw Kidman struggling in the rising water. Sebastian glared at the lock and then the pipes that lead out of the top of it, before looking at his partner.

“Where do these cables go?” The younger detective quickly followed their path and pointed to one of the larger openings where enemies had previously come out, and his partner nodded. 

“You look after these two, I’ll go. Tell me what to do.” With that he ran off, leaving Joseph to fend for the others. He walked back over to where he had left Malachy, and saw the syringes the boy kept tied around his body. One had shattered in the fall, and only the metal pump hung on to the rope, but the other was only slightly cracked, and still had about half its contents. Remembering what it did for him he put aside his germaphobia and plunged his into his companion’s arm as precisely as he could.

Just as he pulled the empty syringe out of the boy’s arm he heard his partner call out that he had arrived at a control panel. He stood, flipping through his notebook and glancing at the lock again for reference before addressing Sebastian.

“It’s got the same kind of dials, right?” Joseph heard the confirmation before double checking his notes, yelling up the combination. “Set the upper dial to… 22, and the lower dial to 5.” After a few seconds he heard a high pitched beep and the glass cube opened, the water and Kidman spilling out onto the ground. She coughed and gasped as Joseph knelt to help her sit up, his expression a mix of seriousness and relief. 

“Are you alright?” The two locked eyes and he waited for his partner’s answer as she caught her breath. Before she could answer the floor gave out from underneath them, taking the two detectives as well as Malachy onto the floor below. Joseph landed on his side and coughed, harmed more by the dust in the air than the landing as he felt the squishy substance that broke his fall. He got a sick feeling in his stomach as the smell of the area hit him and he bolted up, flipping on his flashlight and looking at the countless bodies cushioning the ground. The blood went up to his shins and he clapped a hand over his nose and mouth, looking around for the other two as he heard Sebastian jump down with a grunt.

Joseph heard the same static from earlier and whipped his flashlight around to where it was strongest, seeing Malachy slowly standing up with a hand on his head and the other on the wall for support. He walked towards the boy, careful of the bodies, and found it hard to concentrate the closer he got. He raised his hand and faltered for a second, almost losing his train of thought, before shaking his head and bringing it down onto his shoulder. The noise reached a crescendo for only a moment, and the detective could just stand there rigidly as the static washed over him. When his vision came back to him, he still had his hand on his companion’s shoulder, who was staring up at him like a deer in the headlights.

He withdrew his hand and the boy began to look around the room they were in, brows knitting together in confusion and apprehension. He took his hand off the wall and Joseph walked with him over to where the others were, once again pocketing his flashlight as Sebastian’s lantern provided enough light. After exchanging confirmations that everyone was okay, he and Kidman had a quiet conversation near a locked cell-type door, and Joseph ran his hand along the larger vault door in the middle of the wall. 

“It looks like it’s locked from the other side. Sebastian, maybe we can lift this up enough for Kidman to go under and open it from the other side?” Sebastian nodded, and the two got onto their knees and gripped the bottom of the door. They began lifting, but it only went about a few inches and they were already straining. Seeing as how their plan wasn’t going to work, the two set it down again, before kidman piped up.

“The kid is the smallest one here, I’ll help you two lift the door and he can crawl under. I saw through the door, there’s nothing in the way of them.” Sebastian agreed to the plan as Kidman joined them on the ground, finding a firm grip on the door. 

“We’re counting on you.” Joseph glanced at Malachy as Sebastian said this, seeing the determined look on his face, and, letting out a breath to ease himself, he began to pull on the door with all of his might.

With Kidman’s help they were able to lift it enough for the boy to fit through, all grunting with the effort and letting it fall heavily once he was through. They stood back up and walked over to the door, the smaller of them all already unlocking it. Sebastian and Kidman walked through first, and as Joseph passed he placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, smiling at him before continuing forward. Malachy watched him go for a few seconds, placing a hand where the detective had touched him, and shaking away the static in his mind when he had been staring for too long. He jogged up to the group just as they started to talk.

“I’m glad you’re both alright.” Sebastian seemed a little worse for wear as he said this, a hand placed on his side and his breath wheezing every once in a while.

“It’s odd though. Why would they catch you instead of just killing you?” Joseph posed the question, oblivious to how it made his partner nervous.

“Maybe… He didn’t see me as a threat.” Kidman kept her tone as neutral as possible. 

“He?” Just as the word left the younger detective’s mouth the hallway around them rippled, like a still pool of water that someone dropped a rock into. The waves hit them and so did the raging pain in their heads, but Kidman just turned at the sound of their groans, unaffected. Suddenly she was sucked into the floor, leaving a splash of blood in her wake. Malachy saw spindly fingers emerge from the red liquid surrounding them and latch onto Joseph’s shoes, springing forward with a scream as he was beginning to be pulled under. The boy gripped his hand and he gripped back, determined to keep him there. His efforts didn’t pay out, as more arms ripped up from the ground and grabbed onto him, latching onto his legs, arms, and the back of his neck to force the boy under along with the man. 

Joseph felt everything rushing past him, until he abruptly landed on his back. His hand had slipped from his companion’s at some point during the travel, but he could hear the boy coughing from nearby. He stumbled into a standing position, dizzy from the frequent and sudden changes in pace, and began to look for the source of the coughing. He had landed in a small room that opened into a much larger warehouse, the roof caved in in some places and showing the sky above. The glare of the sun made for dark shadows and patches of light shining onto the ground, one of which Malachy was coughing under. It was weirdly cinematic.

He started walking towards the boy, but he didn’t get far when he saw the hooded man materialize close behind him. Joseph immediately pulled his gun out and aimed, staying where he was and waiting to see what the ominous figure would do. The figure stared straight ahead at him for a few seconds, before changing his sights onto the boy and beginning to walk forward, hand outstretched. The moment he took his first step the detective fired, causing Malachy’s head to whip up from his coughing fit. Just before the bullet could find its target the man disappeared, breaking down into a red mist like the one Joseph had seen after Sebastian first went missing inside the hospital.

Malachy whipped his head around at the hissing sound of the man shifting, but it was already gone and in a second he re-materialized an inch away from Joseph’s face, hand already around his throat and beginning to lift him off of the ground. The man sputtered and choked, trying to raise his gun to defend himself but the man’s other hand was already around his wrist and squeezing with an inhuman amount of strength. They locked eyes in a fierce glare, the light reflecting off of Joseph’s glasses illuminating the mangled features of the man choking him. 

The man squeezed his wrist even tighter, causing the detective to growl in pain and drop his gun, which was then kicked away. He began to float, bringing Joseph’s face closer to his own, and spoke in a low, grating voice.

“Everything in this world belongs to me. The buildings, the grass, Detective Castellanos, you. And your little companion.” The detective tightened his grip on the man’s arm with his other hand, his muscles straining to try and force him to let go. “I will take what I want from you and mangle the rest until it bends to my will like an obedient dog. You are mine. Whether you like it or not.” The mangled man squinted, an idea forming in his mind as a cruel smile tugged at his lips. “And I’ll prove it.”

With those words the same splitting pain as well as ringing filled Joseph’s head, and he was dropped to the ground. He curled into himself, gripping his head and writing with the pain, and the sound of his blood pumping roared in his ears. He felt hands on him, frantic and barely touching him, as if afraid he would shatter. His vision turned red even from behind his eyelids and he screamed, his voice going from the one he knew to something a little less human. He could hear someone chanting ‘no no no no no,’ but his raging heartbeat for the most part drowned it out. 

All of a sudden his arm whipped out without him meaning to, the back of his fist colliding with something and a yelp forcing his eyes open. Through the red filter clouding his eyes he could see Malachy on the ground in front of him, a hand on the side of his face and his eyes wide. He could feel himself stand but couldn’t actually feel his body, like he wasn’t in control of it, and when he shifted his eyes down he saw the same grey skin decorated with dark veins as before. He figured out what was happening and tried to force himself to speak, to move away from the boy, anything, but the more he struggled to regain control the worse his head pounded. The boy was broken from his shock when Joseph took a jerky step forward, gasping before scrambling to his feet and starting to sprint away. 

Joseph’s body immediately began to run after him full throttle, his longer legs making the journey in only about a minute. When he got within range he grabbed the back of the boy’s shirt, yanking him backwards and throwing him onto the floor. He turned around and slammed his foot down where the boy’s chest would have been, but he rolled away just in time to miss it. He got up again and ran towards one of the blown out walls of the warehouse, and the detective went right after him again. This time when he caught up he grabbed the boy by the hair, pulling his head back and landing a punch that sent blood spurting from the teen’s nose.

Inside his head Joseph was screaming. He was doing everything he could to stop himself from hurting the boy he had saved, pushing past any pain tolerance limit he thought he had. He gripped his head, and noticed that it was him gripping his head, not the guy in the hood making his body do it. He looked at Malachy, his hand still tangled in his hair and the boy’s blood still on his knuckles, and he quickly let go, stumbling backwards and looking at the hooded villain.

Said hooded villain was now glaring at him with annoyance, and a shock wave erupted from his body, sending both him and Malachy onto the ground again. This time Joseph recovered almost instantly, but he was locked in his mind again, and watched helplessly as his body approached his companion lying on his side and whimpering in pain. He kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him rolling across the floor until he was on his back, dazed and breath wheezing. The detective stepped over the boy, kneeling down so he was straddling him, and wrapped his gloved hands around his throat. 

Joseph once again screamed in his mind as he watched his companion struggle underneath his grasp, gripping his wrists and pulling at them uselessly. He could hear himself laughing, but his voice had changed into something cruel, gutterral, and he could hear the bastard in the robe laughing in perfect sync. Tears had started pouring down the boys face, his movements growing weaker, and from inside his head Joseph closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight of what was about to happen. Then he felt something cool against his temple, and his eyes snapped open to see Malachy, tears still streaming down his face, holding his own gun to the detective’s head.

_ ‘He must have picked it up when it was kicked away,’ _ he thought in shock, and some part of him was relieved. He wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone or turn like this again if he was dead, so he welcomed it, eyes drooping shut. He felt the gun press against his head harder, pushing it to the side some, and he let it, now suddenly have some control of his body. His hands loosened slightly and his shoulders drooped, prepared for what was going to happen.

What he didn’t expect was for the barrel to shift from being pressed against his head to beside it, and for it to be shot right past him, his left ear ringing from the close proximity. The bullet lodged into the hooded man’s body, catching him off guard, and he gasped as it shot him back into the wall before sliding down it. Joseph fell to the side, the hold on his body suddenly relinquished, and he watched as Malachy gulped in air and coughed, his chest going up and down in jerky motions. The detective tilted his head and saw that the hooded man was already done, the only thing left a streak of blood going down the crumbling wall. 

When he looked back up at his companion he saw that he’d passed out. He slowly sat up, clenching his fists and rolling his shoulders and making sure that his body was really his. He sat on the floor for a while, thinking to himself, before glancing at the boy’s hand which was holding the gun, now limp. He picked it up, staring at it for a long time, and pressed it against his temple where his companion had before. He took it away and checked the bullets, but found that the one used to shoot their enemy had been the last one. He placed it in his holster and looked at the other’s face.

The blood from his nose had dried, covering his chin and lips in its dark red color. Looking further down, his whole neck was beginning to turn purple from where Joseph had choked him. Guilt stabbed into him like a cold knife and he felt sick to his stomach seeing his companion in such a vulnerable state. He was supposed to be protecting him, and now he’d not only almost killed him, but was also saved by him. He curled forward, sliding his glasses up on his head and pressing his face into his hands, letting tears of shame and guilt flow silently.

After a few minutes of wallowing in his emotions, Joseph heard the telltale sign of enemies nearby. He lifted his head, eyes bloodshot, and put his glasses back into place. Looking around to see if any of them were within eyeshot yet, he collected himself and shifted so he was on his knees in front of his companion again. This time, however, instead of straddling him, he slipped his hands beneath the small of the boy’s back and his knees, pulling him close to his chest before standing up.

He had to put his feelings aside. They had to keep moving forward. Somehow, they would get out of this nightmare.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finally done!! ive sorta put this on the back burner lately, but im glad ive finished it. more independent time for joseph and malachy, sort of a filler but the next one will be more interesting! also look forward to another boss fight :))

The sun beat down on Joseph as he walked through the forest, Malachy in his arms. The scarce leaves on the trees did little to shade him from the heat, and he wondered how he could have just been in a place as cool and damp as the hospital just a half hour before. He was guessing on the time though, as there was no trustworthy way of tracking it with the weird state this world was in. He decided it would be better not to think too hard about it, and kept walking.

The boy he was carrying was still, his breath shallow, and the bruise on his neck were now a splotchy purple. Joseph tried not to look at it as he trudged on, a gentle buzz in the back of his mind that he couldn’t shake away. Setting him down every once in a while to take down enemies or regain his energy, he planned as far ahead as he could under such chaotic conditions. After what felt like an hour or two of walking he came across a decrepit down, and decided to set up there for the night as he watched the sun set. He set down his companion, concealed in the shadow of a large tree, and scoped out the entrance. He found a room with a moderately sturdy door on a second floor and decided that would be the best place to stop.

He went back down and draped Malachy over his shoulder, walking carefully up the stairs and setting him down in the farthest corner from the door and windows. He then got to work moving the furniture and random boxes in the room so that they blocked the door, and finally sat down on the wall adjacent to the broken windows, the sleeping boy to his left a few inches away. He watched the light outside fade from orange to purple to black, and kept his flashlight off so as not to alert the moaning beings he could hear outside, the occasional glow letting him know that they had torches. 

He did the best he could to stay awake, but his head drooped more and more no matter how many times he jerked it back up and his eyelids grew heavy. The adrenaline from the day was wearing off, and soon he was asleep, gun resting on the floor between his outstretched legs in his gloved hands (safety on, of course, he wasn’t his partner). His slumber didn’t last long before he awoke with a start, hearing the heavy footsteps of someone walking up the creaky stairs. He brought up his gun and slowed his breathing, watching the door intently as the steps grew closer. 

Just when the intruder was going to reach the top stoop and find them, the sound of a bottle breaking nearby drew a sharp growl from its mouth. Joseph heard the thing begin to descend, and slowly lowered his gun, straining his ears until he could no longer hear any hint of the being. He peered up at the window across from him as a light drew his gaze, and noticed for the first time a window directly across from them, giving anyone there direct visuals on the two inside.

He sucked in a breath and immediately stood, prying off a loose lid from one of the crates in the room and placing his companion in it. That way he’d be hidden from anything peering in the window and if something made it through the door. The detective started to place the lid back on gently, giving one last glance to the boy curled up inside, before seeing the outline of a box in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out the spare bullets Malachy had been collecting, deciding that they’d be better to keep on his person in case of an emergency, and readjusted the lid so it looked as if it had never been opened. With that done he crept across the room, sitting next to the window with his back against the wall. He stared at the door until the sound of the trees swaying in the breeze lulled him to sleep against his best efforts.

Joseph awoke naturally, his vision coming back into focus, but something was wrong. When he went to sleep the air was cool and humid, and a breeze rustled the leaves outside. Now everything was dead silent, the air suffocating, and everything seemed to be in black and white. He tried to turn his head to look outside, but found what his body wouldn’t cooperate. His eyes darted down to the exposed skin on his forearms, but he didn’t see the telltale veins and bubbling, infected patches of skin that came when he was possessed. Confused, he continued to look around with his eyes, until a sudden noise focused his attention on the crate he put his companion in. 

The crate shook, sharp knocks from the inside jerkin the top panel until it burst open, resting on the box still but skewed. A hand slid out, grasping the edge of the crate, and the detective’s feeling of something being wrong suddenly became gut wrenching. His companion rose from the box, his head directed down and shielding his face from the detective. Joseph watched as something dripped from the boy’s face, following it to the ground to see what looked like static, but that wasn’t right. The drops grew more frequent until there was a small puddle of the liquidated static, and he trailed his eyes back up to see the boy was looking up now.

But it was wrong.

Malachy’s jaw was slacked open, the buzzing static pouring out of it in thick drops like blood. His eyes were wide, inhumanly so, and had the same static in place of the cornea and sclera. Joseph stared, slightly horrified, as the boy crawled out of the box. His movements were jerky, and for each step closer he took to the detective, everything behind him became unfocused and grainy. His voice crackled as he groaned, as if Joseph was listening to it through a phone while he was in a tunnel. The boy kept coming towards him, dropping to his knees once he reached the man’s feet and crawling towards him.

Joseph could feel his pulse quicken, pounding away in his chest and causing his hands to tremble. The boy was upon him now, one hand against the wall by his head and the other grasping the side of his face. His empty, unnaturally wide eyes bore into his soul, and he watched transfixed as the hand on his face moved to open his mouth. He watched more of the static liquid spill from Malachy’s mouth, and suddenly he began to choke. His mouth felt numb, and the feeling spread down his throat as he struggled to breath around the thick substance.

Tears sprung in Joseph’s eyes as the choked the static down, chest sputtering and the feeling of drowning growing. His companion seemed to smile and began to laugh, the distorted sound grating on the detective’s ears as the static overtook his vision. Each of his senses was saturated, and he couldn’t think of anything else except for the suffocating white noise. He felt himself fade away into it, his body going more and more numb and his breath running out.

Joseph awoke with a gasp, bolting off of the wall and holding his gun up defensively before coughing violently into his hand. When he pulled it away there was blood that for a second looked like it had the same static buzzing inside of it from his dream, but when he blinked it was gone. When he got back his sense he saw that he had aimed his gun right at where the box holding the teen was. Or, should have been. For a moment he stared, shocked, until the banging of the open door had him staring in even greater shock. Dread weighed upon him like a truck and he jumped up, running to the open door. How had he not noticed them bust the door open??? 

He got to the door just as a zombie did, brute forcing it over the rail of the stairs and hearing a sickening crack as it landed and failed to get back up. He looked at it for a second before turning left and descending down the stairs. As he reached the bottom he peeked around the side, looking down the long street with similar buildings lining each side. There were around 5 zombies walking down the street, the two in the front holding the crate containing his companion. They seemed to be walking towards a large mansion at the end of the road, and it didn’t look like anything good. He ran out from the cover of the building and started going towards the group, but was quickly stopped by a bottle narrowly missing his head and a stick of dynamite landing in front of him.

Diving out of the way of it and taking cover in another building, the detective looked up and saw zombies in the second stories leaning out of windows. A few toppled out and began walking towards him, and Joseph huffed in anger at having to pick off the enemies instead of getting right to rescuing his companion. Reloading his gun with some of the bullets he’d gotten from the boy, he began firing shots into the heads of the enemies stumbling towards him. One in particular fell and revealed an ax lodged in its back, which Joseph yanked out and held with his other hand, ready to use. He used up the last of his bullets before decapitating the last enemy in one lunge, running forward as more enemies met him on the road.

This cycle continued for a while, until Joseph had taken out nearly every zombie in the town, as well as most of his bullets. The group ahead of him as almost at the house by now, and as if on queue the three tailing the ones carrying the box turned around and ran towards him, two of them armed with a knife and an ax. He took down the one with the ax first, two shots into its head and he was able to grab the weapon before the body had even hit the ground. The next one he shot in the knee and stomped on its head, crushing its skull as droplets of blood sprayed onto his face. The last one had the knife, and he blocked its hand being brought down to stab him with his arm just as it did the same to his other. After a bit of struggle between the two Joseph kneed it in the stomach, unbalancing it and making an opening for which he could press his gun directly to its head and fire, causing more blood to spray on his face.

By the time all of that was done the two zombies carrying the crate finally reached the large mansion, its presence seeming to loom over them and soak up all of the light, leaving only darkness. The zombies walked up the steps as the door opened, and the hooded man who had been torturing them stepped out. Joseph glared at the sight of him and reloaded his gun, seething. Instead of shooting at the man he shot at the legs of one of the zombies toting the box, causing it to fall harshly onto the steps and slide down them slightly. The other zombie strained to drag it the rest of the way to the hooded man, and Joseph began running towards them to free his companion.

As he reached the first step in the courtyard everything rippled in one shock wave, and he began to float upwards while pain once again filled his head. He couldn’t get his bearings in midair, and he twisted around to try and get into a more stable position. As he moved around above the ground, he caught a passing glimpse of the lid of the crate busting open. Malachy bolted upwards, saw Joseph, turned around, saw the hooded man, and charged at him. He latched onto the man and obviously surprised him, because a second later Joseph dropped to the ground.

The man struggled with Malachy, trying to shove the boy off of him and working his unnatural powers to weaken him. They boy held tight, arms latched around the man’s mangled chest even as he began to scream in pain from the force set upon him. His screaming became distorted, similar to Joseph’s dream, and static began to envelope the two. The man began grunting, shaking his head violently, and sporadic shock waves also carrying the static rippled around them, but did not affect the detective. Joseph had been trying to stand back up to help his companion, but now the ground was so uneven he was forced to stay on one knee just a few feet away. 

Suddenly their surroundings started to change rapidly; one second they were in the decrepit town and the next a field of sunflowers. The hooded man began to scream as well now, his ripples of power mixing with Malachy’s static and creating a field of chaos all around them. Joseph was overwhelmed by the sudden shifting from pain to numbness, and he started to hyperventilate. The detective squeezed his eyes shut as the visuals got too intense to bear, and the other two’s screams became one, distorted sound. 

The next second all sounds stopped, and Joseph’s ears were left ringing while he waited for his breath to return to normal. When it did he opened his eyes and saw he was in the elegantly decorated foyer of a large mansion. He struggled onto his feet, fatigue weighing down on him, and scanned the dim room. Large portraits hung on the wall, showing the same solemn looking family, their heads scratched out crudely. The smallest member of the family had a seemingly endless stream of insect-like red things crawling out of the void over their face, and the detective felt a shudder run down his spine.

Joseph tried the door directly behind him, finding it locked, before turning and sizing up the different paths in front of him. He felt the familiar buzz in his mind, barely noticeable, but when he walked in certain directions it grew a little stronger. Pushing his glasses up and readying his gun, he began the trek through the ominous mansion.


	7. Bonus Spinoff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is an idea i was toying with but eventually scrapped, so i decided to make it a sorta oneshot thing. sorta like a bad end? also just another reason to write haunted joseph lol, my thirst is unquenchable

The sound of shoes pounding on the ground echoed off the walls of the hospital, panicked huffs of breath spilling from the boy’s mouth. He stopped at a set of turns, gasping for breath while he tried to remember which way to go. A loud crash behind him interrupted his thinking, and he bolted down the right one without thinking, knocking over a tray with medical instruments on it in the process. A shadow passed over there he just was, watching him retreat. A gloved hand reached to the floor and picked up a single scalpel which had been knocked over with the other tools.

The boy kept running, eyes wide and darting every which way, looking for something to let him know he was on the right path. He slammed into the wall at another turn, chest heaving and legs shaking from the exertion. He looked up and saw his saving grace: a rusted door with a “stairs” sign barely visible through layers of grime and rust. He croaked breathlessly, the closest thing he could get to a laugh of relief, and started to go towards it. 

Before he could take the first step, however, something sharp lodged itself deep into his right inner thigh. He cried out in pain and dropped to the floor, looking to see the handle of a scalpel sticking out of his hospital uniform, and a growing red stain blossoming from it. He tried to touch it but immediately grunted, unable to bare the pain of ripping it out. He started hyperventilating, looking back at the only door to freedom as tears of pain and fear spilled from his eyes. Laughter rang out from the dark hallway, a figure drawing closer, and the boy sobbed as he dragged himself onto his good leg and started limping towards the door.

He got about halfway there before the person laughing rounded the corner, easily catching up to him with a casual jog. The boy didn’t dare look behind him, but gasped as a cold hand wrapped around his left ankle and yanked it out from underneath him, causing him to slam onto the ground. He screamed in pain as the end of the scalpel hit the ground, driving it further into his leg, and continued screaming and clawing at the ground as he was pulled backwards, away from his only shot at freedom. Joseph Oda had caught him.

Another hand grabbed his shoulder, forcing his back onto the floor and finally meeting the eyes of his attacker. Hollow static stared back at him, illuminating Joseph’s grey skin and disheveled black hair. The glasses perched on his face were cracked on one lense, and his teeth were bared in a mix between a grimace and a grin. The boy shrunk in fear, staring into the abyss of his eyes, before pushing against his chest and face to try and wriggle free.

Joseph growled in anger, moving his hand from his victim’s ankle to prod the wound on his thigh, causing the boy to gasp and instead grab his wrist. His breath came out in short pants, searching for any familiarity in the man’s face

“Joseph! Please, this isn’t you! Fight it, you.. You’re stronger than Him!” As he said this the unnatural power inside of him was working to keep the real Joseph dormant within his own mind. His haunted body paid the boy’s pleas no mind, moving to pick him up by the collar of his shirt. His back was slammed against the wall and he whimpered, balancing on his toes due to the height difference of the two. He shuddered as the man began to speak in a gruff, annoyed tone.

“Can’t you ever just shut the fuck up? Jesus, it would be so much easier to just kill you right here. I don’t know why that fucking freak wants you so bad, or why I have to be the one to catch your sorry ass. So just shut the hell up and  **_Obey._ ** ” With that Joseph let the boy drop to the ground, watching him tremble with a look of disgust. Malachy kept quiet as well as he could, cupping his leg with tender hands.

Joseph rolled his bloodshot eyes and crouched in front of his companion, mocking a caring expression. He moved the boy’s hands and gently grasped the handle of the scalpel, meeting his eyes before ripping it out in one motion. Malachy’s eyes widened and he immediately began to scream, pressing his hands against the wound as blood trickled over his fingers. The detective pulled a piece of rope out of his back pocket, tying it tightly right above the wound as a makeshift tourniquet and ignoring the boy’s sputtering sobs.

Malachy pressed himself against the wall fearfully, his good leg brought up to his chest and his mind on overdrive with adrenaline, lessening the numbing static in the other’s head. He peered up at the man through his tears, trembling at the thought of what was next. Joseph stared back, watching him cry with an obnoxious tinge of lingering guilt from his human half nagging at his mind, but that was shaken away easily enough. He started to reach forward, but was met with an unexpected outburst from the other as a fist whipped out to punch him square in the nose.

He fell back with a grunt and a swear, holding his nose and staining his gloves with more blood as it poured from his nostrils. They both looked at each other for a few seconds, the boy’s fist still held out in front of him until his eyes trailed to it and his expression changed from shock to terror. Joseph roared with fury and darted at Malachy, grabbing at his hair harshly and slamming his head against the ground and wall. Blood spilled from the boy’s nose, choking his cries, and after 2 hits he was out cold. The detective was still for a while, panting for breath as he held the unconscious boy’s head against the cool ground. He stood, pulling the other’s head off of the ground, and began walking, dragging the body of his companion with him. 

The guilt was biting at him again, making his heart pound heavy and his stomach twist in an unpleasant way. His sight was clouded with hazy visions of the two of them working together, helping each other, laughing at the little victories. He stopped and gripped his head, grumbling in frustration and jerking his head violently. Eventually the thoughts left, and he kept walking, unconsciously knowing the path towards the man who took over his mind. His mind belonged to Ruvik, and whatever he wanted he got.


End file.
